Finish probe or summon top cop: HC

If the crime branch fails to file a report in an alleged gang rape case within a week, Mumbai Police Commissioner D Sivanandhan will have to appear before the Bombay High Court to explain the effectiveness of his police force.

The case involves a 42-year-old Malad woman who alleged she had been gang-raped by four men in a car. She has claimed she provided a tiffin service to the accused Kunwarji Shah. On August 20, Shah allegedly asked her to meet him at Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Shah and three of his friends — Ramniklal Kariya, Shyamji Chheda and Lakhamshi Nisar — reached the spot in a Tavera, her petition said. After asking her to sit in the car, Shah drove to a remote corner, where Kariya allegedly threatened her with a knife and Chheda and Nisar allegedly raped her.

The court has now ordered the police to complete their probe quickly.

A complaint was lodged at BKC police station and she was sent her to Nagpada police hospital for a medical examination, said her lawyer Prashant Sarwankar. Later, the police began threatening her to withdraw her case, Sarwankar said.

On October 8, the HC said that prima facie the police seem to be trying to shield the accused. It directed the deputy commissioner of police to appoint a police officer (not below the rank of inspector of police) to investigate the case and submit a report by November 5.